Thursday, February 21, 2013

Steve Williams and Jazz Nation

Composer, arranger and
saxophonist Steve Williams is another of the many individuals who is famous
within the music world, but relatively unknown outside it. He’s a graduate
of the University of North Texas — formally North Texas State University, an
institution that has produced a number of great jazz musicians — and Florida
State University; during his 35 years as a freelance musician, he has worked
with, and done arrangement for, numerous name artists and orchestras.

Because it’s no longer
economically feasible to operate with a true “big band” these days, he formed Jazz Nation in 2010,
comprising musicians in the Washington, D.C., area, as a vehicle for his
original compositions and arrangements. This is that group’s debut
release.

Close your eyes, and you’ll
be carried back to the days of Ellington, Herman and Kenton, followed by more
recent orchestras led by Blakey, Cunliffe, Florence, Gillespie, Hawk-Richard,
Jones and others. The ensemble features five reeds, eight brass, four
rhythm players (including a guitar) and guest artist Eddie Daniels, on clarinet
and tenor sax.

The album kicks off with
“Certified,” and the opening two choruses, featuring the rhythm section, nailed
me! Now, that’s the way some of
those great old bands used to sound! Williams is more a traditionalist
than a bopper, and he totally avoids the ultra-modernist style that so many young
composers are producing. This band, and its members, truly swing!

Williams’ charts are
exceptional, all the soloists are excellent, and Daniels simply has no
peers. Great clarinetists are all but extinct these days, and when you
realize that Daniels also plays masterful tenor sax, you just sit in awe.